WAC grows with 4 from Southland

Positioning themselves in a strong mid-major basketball conference, restarting a football league that potentially could progress to the FBS level, and strengthening their overall athletic programs were deciding factors in Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, Lamar and Abilene Christian’s leaving the Southland Conference for the expanding Western Athletic Conference.

The Texas Four made it official Thursday, bringing the number of Texas schools in the WAC to six, the most Texas universities in an NCAA Division I conference.

The mass exodus to the WAC also includes Southern Utah of the Big Sky.

The announcement of a 13-team conference that will be divided into two divisions was made by WAC commissioner Jeff Hurd on Thursday at NRG Park. School presidents from the four Texas schools and Southern Utah were in attendance, and they officially signed documents to join the WAC at an 11:30 a.m. news conference. The membership invitations were issued by the conference’s Board of Directors.

Houston Baptist, which joined the Southland in 2013, will remain in the SLC.

Originally, the four Texas institutions were to enter the WAC together on July 1, 2022. But their exit from the Southland was expedited to July 1 of this year. Southern Utah will join on July 1, 2022.

With the end of a 34-year run in the Southland, Thursday was a monumental day for Sam Houston State, comparable to when the Huntsville school transitioned to NCAA Division I from Division II in 1987.

Besides the WAC’S five new members, only New Mexico State, Tarleton State and Dixie State have football programs. Tarleton State and Dixie State are transitioning to full Division I Status, and New Mexico State will remain a Football Bowl Subdivision independent.

Besides HBU, the Southland’s other current members are Incarnate Word and four Louisiana schools — Mcneese State, Nicholls State, Northwestern State and Southeastern Louisiana.